For some people it's a lucky number but it looks like being quite the opposite for Palermo's Delio Rossi. His side conceded seven without reply against Udinese – their worst ever home defeat in Serie A – and after the game the Palermo president, the famously feisty Maurizio Zamparini, was pinning the blame firmly on the manager.

"Rossi has a 1% chance of staying. He has ruined my Palermo," said Zamparini. "He has destroyed this team. I told the coach to sort out the defence and he didn't. Rossi dropped Ezequiel Muñoz and he is the best in defence. You can't play like that."

Before the match only four points separated Udinese and their Sicilian hosts, with both sides eyeing qualification for Europe next season. However, Palermo's momentum had already been stalled by consecutive defeats by Fiorentina and Bologna and after an astonishing encounter, which featured four goals from Alexis Sánchez, a hat-trick for Antonio Di Natale and two red cards for Palermo players, their prospects look increasingly bleak.

"It is purely my fault, but I am not resigning," said Rossi. "There was a risk I'd be sacked before, never mind now."

Rossi is left facing his curtain call after 15 months at Stadio Renzo Barbera – with Serse Cosmi and Giuseppe Papadopulo already declaring their interest – but the 50-year-old can perhaps take heart from the example of the man who masterminded Sunday's mauling, Francesco Guidolin.

Udinese, who finished 15th last season, remain unbeaten in 2011 and have now scored 12 times without conceding once in their last four matches. Fired by the goals of Di Natale (21 in 26 league appearances) and Sánchez (11 in 20), what chance of Serie A's entertainers making it all the way to the Champions League?

• Luigi Del Neri is another manager shifting uncertainly in his dugout seat after the Old Lady suffered a humiliating mugging at home to Bologna. The much-travelled Juve old boy Marco Di Vaio did the damage with both second-half goals to give the visitors their first win in Turin since 1980. With four defeats in their last six league outings Juventus lie seventh, two points behind Roma, and the credit from Del Neri's Derby D'Italia victory looks to be rapidly running out.

• With Milan and Napoli in action on Monday night, Inter took the opportunity to climb to second with a hard-fought victory over Sampdoria. Goals from Wesley Sneijder and Samuel Eto'o gave Leonardo his 10th win in 12 Serie A matches as the Nerazzurri put defeat in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Bayern behind them. Lazio, meanwhile, slipped up at Cagliari – courtesy of André Dias's "nothing to see here" own-goal to leave the top three with a little elbow room in the race for the scudetto.

• At the bottom, Bari remain adrift despite Abdel Ghezzal's sumptuous 86th-minute equaliser against Fiorentina – you don't get extra points for style – but there were potentially crucial wins for Cesena and Catania against mid-table opposition. Brescia, in 19th, threw away a two-goal lead against fellow strugglers Lecce and then saw a last-minute winner controversially disallowed for offside; the 2-2 final score not really doing either team many favours.